Career Journal: How to Deal With a Low Pay Raise

Try not to get emotional if you don’t get the pay rise you hoped for, career experts say.

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If you are disappointed with your latest pay raise, the best thing you can do: curb your emotions.

When individuals think they’ve got a lower pay increase than they deserve, their emotions can range from mild disappointment and frustration to disgust or anger, say human resources’ experts. Acting rashly as a result is more likely to hurt than help your career, they warn.

To begin with, the employee should figure out why the increment is small, says Mr. D’Souza. It may not be personal, he says.

Is it because the entire industry is going through a slowdown or because your company has had a poor financial year?

If it is because of extraneous factors like these, then you need to put your reaction into perspective. Unless you plan to leave the industry, try and add to your skills by taking up part-time courses. This will enable you to move up the ranks, and that helps with bigger pay increases when times turn better, say consultants.

It’s also important to check where a salary increase stands relative to industry standards. Such information can come from industry surveys or discussion with peers within or outside the organization.

If the lower pay raise is specific to you, experts advise talking to the manager.

Present your case rationally, ideally with data that indicates a good performance, says Elango R, an executive vice-president for the emerging markets business and the chief human resources officer at Bangalore-based technology firm Mphasis Ltd., a unit of Hewlett-Packard Co. “Give reasons why you think this (the pay increase) is not enough,” he says.

Try to avoid comparison with named colleagues within the organization, says Mr. Elango. It is a better option to state the average increase that the company has rolled out and then say that you received less than that, he says. Remember, “you are not having a conversation with your spouse or asking for pocket money from your parents,” he says stressing the need to be rational and non-emotional about it.

Sometimes, managers cannot give the salary increase an employee deserves because of budget constraints, says Ashu Malhotra, head of human resources at Gurgaon-based Xerion Retail Pvt. Ltd. which runs Indian e-commerce portal Jabong.com. If your conversation with the manager reveals that as a reason for a modest raise, try to add to your resume with additional qualifications and skill sets, he says. “A company appreciates employees who stick through tough times,” he says.

If it is not a broader industry or company-wide issue then experts suggest seeking out your manager, if possible in an informal environment, for a frank discussion.

“Ask him or her if your expectations were right or wrong,” says Debashis Chatterjee, director of the Indian Institute of Management at Kozhikode in Kerala and a professor of Organization Behaviour.

Keep your cool during this talk, advises Mr. Chatterjee.

If the low pay raise is because the company isn’t happy with the employee’s performance, then he or she should figure out how to resolve that. “Ask if you need more skills and [then] train yourself to get those (qualifications),” says Mr. D’Souza.

Seek performance targets from your manager and agree to review them in six months. This will help correct the course in the next six months after the review, in time for next year’s appraisal, HR consultants say.

If a company has set targets which you may feel are unreasonable, then go back to your manager and tell why you think the targets may not be achievable. Try and set “smart goals that are measurable and achievable,” says Jabong’s Mr. Malhotra.

However, if the manager and the organization as a whole is not transparent in its appraisal process, then it is time to look around, consultants warn.

“Sometimes, employees reach a glass ceiling in terms of pay or skills,” says Mr. Elango. Then it makes sense to look for another job, he says.